


Breeder

by thebrandianderson



Category: Original Work
Genre: Assassination, Death, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, Female-Centric, High Fantasy, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Murder, Religious Conflict, Travel, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 07:33:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14159865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebrandianderson/pseuds/thebrandianderson
Summary: Lillian, a priestess and healer of the Order of the Sacred Mother, pledges herself to the Breeders, a mysterious sect devoted to the reincarnation of the Great Mother. But the path of the Breeder is a harsh one, paved in the blood, sweat, tears, and death of those that follow it. And when Lillian gives birth to a deformed child, she must make a choice no mother should ever have to make: her son or her duty. For the only thing the Order upholds more than life … is death.





	Breeder

**Author's Note:**

> SEE NOTES AT THE END.

* * *

  


  


I am a Breeder.

I come from a long line of Breeders. 

From Lillian of Sacretious who is my name sake, to the Great Mother herself, a woman of inconsequential means who gave birth to this new world. 

My life has been a tumultuous one. 

I was born in the Slab, sliding from my mothers womb onto a bed of granite, screaming to high heaven and hungry. Mother, exhausted and pained as she was, latched me to her breast, strapped me to her with pieces of cloth from her dress and, when she knew I was secure, picked up her hammer and went back to work, breaking up pieces of granite that would be used to finish the Great Temple. 

Such was the way of life in the Slab. 

I have little to say about those early years except that the Slab is a harsh place for all but especially the young, especially me. I was often left to my own devices and it was there, amongst the dust and grime and drug riddle streets, I learned of my gifts. 

Healing is an art perfected in blood. And I had many a cause to practice. 

Beatings were part of the norm, from the Overseers and other children almost equally. The Overseers, I suspected, took much pleasure in my ability to withstand their whips, each cut healing after every lash. The children, I knew, hated me because they feared me. Knowing what I know now, mayhaps they were right to fear, but at the time I saw little cause. My gifts were benign at best, useless at worst. 

I could heal myself with little effort but to heal someone else required an understanding of the body I did not have and did not expect to ever have. There was little hope for growth in the Slab. Nothing grew there. Only death. And for me, only blood. 

It was a lesson I only truly learned the day my mother died. 

The body was still warm when she found me. I remember that clearly. I was wrapped around it, face pressed to a chest that no longer had a heart beat, arms holding tight. They had to pry me from it, drag me kicking and screaming from her arms … its arms. 

It. 

Mother wasn’t there any more. Not in that body. I couldn’t feel her. I couldn’t see her. Not any more. 

“Be still child.” The command was barked at me by a heavily armored woman. She knelt before me, sweeping her red cloak from her shoulders and onto mine. She took my face in her hands. “Be still.” Her voice was softer then. 

She was not a beautiful woman. I had expected them to be beautiful, the women that live in the Great Temple, but then I had never seen a priestess of the Sacred Order before. They did not come here. Not to the Slab. I was too young, too traumatized to wonder what they were doing there now. 

“You’ve seen much haven’t you?” I did not answer. She hummed. 

“Your name?” I shook my head. 

“You don’t have a name?” A nod. 

“Well then, we’ll have to remedy that.” She smiled at me, her red lips stretching to fill her face, her eyes sparkling. She glanced over her shoulder, looking at Mother…the body, again. Her eyes lost some of their shine. 

She stood, her armor creaking, and began to bark out orders. “Clean this mess up.” She said to the other armored women. “And get these people out of here.” 

As the women rushed to obey, and the crowd thinned, the woman turned to me. Her brows furrowed as she looked at me. A question quickly forming behind her eyes and just as quickly answered. She straightened. 

“I am Breeder Odessa and you have a choice little one.” She said. 

“Come with me and I shall take you to the Temple.” Breeder Odessa pointed to the Great Temple, looming high in the sky. 

“You will give yourself to the Great Mother and she shall in turn give you purpose and a chance to save humanity. Or…” And she pointed down to the ground beneath our feet. 

“Stay here. Live as your mother lived. Probably die as your mother died. And know that you shall never be more than what you are today.” 

She looked me in the eye, her gaze steely. 

“Choose.” She said. 

And I did. I grasped her hand and turned away. If she was surprised by my quick response she did not show it. She took me to her horse, lifted me onto its back and then swung herself onto it behind me. As we rode away, dust billowing behind us, I did not turn to watch. I did not wish to see my old life rushing away from me. It was over, dead, like my mother. I would never be that girl again and I would never return to the Slab. That was clear to me. As clear as the Temple looming before us. As clear as my future as priestess of the Sacred Order. 

**Author's Note:**

> UPDATES:
> 
> I work, so I'll be putting out new chapters as I complete them. Please feel free to leave a comment! And if, you want, answer a quick question:
> 
> Who is our protagonist and what does she want?


End file.
